Military spending as a share of GDP in Central African Republic
Central African Republic: Military spending as a share of GDP was 1.7% in 2019. ▲ Rising
Latest (2019)
1.7%
Change on year
up 11.1%
World rank
65th
of 172 countries
All-time high
2.3%
in 1998
All-time low
0.4%
in 1960
Years of data
60
1960–2019
Military spending as a share of GDP in Central African Republic, 1960–2019
Source: Barnum et al. - Global Military Spending Dataset (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
In 2019, military spending as a share of gdp in Central African Republic stood at 1.7%.
The figure is up 11.1% on the previous year and up 20.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, military spending as a share of gdp in Central African Republic peaked at 2.3% in 1998 and was at its lowest, 0.4%, in 1960.
Central African Republic ranks 65th of 172 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 60 years of available data.
Military spending as a share of GDP in Central African Republic, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 0.4% | — |
| 1961 | 0.4% | +2.7% |
| 1962 | 0.5% | +14.3% |
| 1963 | 0.6% | +7.6% |
| 1964 | 0.8% | +49.4% |
| 1965 | 1.0% | +20.4% |
| 1966 | 1.0% | +3.6% |
| 1967 | 1.4% | +33.1% |
| 1968 | 1.6% | +18.2% |
| 1969 | 1.8% | +11.2% |
| 1970 | 1.7% | -5.5% |
| 1971 | 1.7% | +2.0% |
| 1972 | 1.8% | +1.1% |
| 1973 | 1.7% | -4.0% |
| 1974 | 1.6% | -3.0% |
| 1975 | 1.6% | -4.4% |
| 1976 | 1.5% | -4.6% |
| 1977 | 1.4% | -4.4% |
| 1978 | 1.5% | +8.0% |
| 1979 | 1.7% | +9.2% |
| 1980 | 1.6% | -2.7% |
| 1981 | 1.6% | -0.2% |
| 1982 | 1.7% | +5.3% |
| 1983 | 1.7% | -3.2% |
| 1984 | 1.7% | +1.3% |
| 1985 | 1.5% | -12.3% |
| 1986 | 1.5% | +3.8% |
| 1987 | 1.6% | +4.0% |
| 1988 | 1.7% | +6.1% |
| 1989 | 1.5% | -9.9% |
| 1990 | 1.6% | +6.8% |
| 1991 | 1.6% | -1.3% |
| 1992 | 1.8% | +9.3% |
| 1993 | 1.5% | -15.7% |
| 1994 | 1.3% | -9.7% |
| 1995 | 1.4% | +6.7% |
| 1996 | 1.6% | +14.2% |
| 1997 | 2.1% | +30.8% |
| 1998 | 2.3% | +8.8% |
| 1999 | 2.1% | -8.7% |
| 2000 | 1.1% | -46.4% |
| 2001 | 1.0% | -16.3% |
| 2002 | 0.9% | -3.9% |
| 2003 | 0.9% | +1.0% |
| 2004 | 0.9% | -4.5% |
| 2005 | 0.8% | -11.3% |
| 2006 | 0.8% | +0.9% |
| 2007 | 0.9% | +9.6% |
| 2008 | 0.9% | +9.2% |
| 2009 | 1.4% | +47.1% |
| 2010 | 1.7% | +25.5% |
| 2011 | 1.8% | +5.6% |
| 2012 | 1.8% | -1.4% |
| 2013 | 2.1% | +15.2% |
| 2014 | 1.9% | -7.6% |
| 2015 | 1.5% | -21.3% |
| 2016 | 1.5% | -3.4% |
| 2017 | 1.4% | -2.3% |
| 2018 | 1.5% | +4.9% |
| 2019 | 1.7% | +11.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1.0% | 0.4% | 1.8% | 10 |
| 1970s | 1.6% | 1.4% | 1.8% | 10 |
| 1980s | 1.6% | 1.5% | 1.7% | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.7% | 1.3% | 2.3% | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.0% | 0.8% | 1.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.7% | 1.4% | 2.1% | 10 |
Countries ranked near Central African Republic
More economy & growth data for Central African Republic
- Africa's Development Dynamics (AfDD) Table 04 - Annual real GDP -0.5324 Percent per annum (2029)
- Africa's Development Dynamics (AfDD) Table 02 - Annual real GDP 2.55 Percent per annum (2029)
- Gross capital formation (constant 2015 US$), annual growth rate -8.65 % change on previous year (2025)
- Gross capital formation (constant 2015 US$), per unit of GDP 0.1034 constant 2015 US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Gross capital formation (constant 2015 US$), per capita 57.53 constant 2015 US$ per person (2025)
- Imports of goods and services (current US$), annual growth rate 19.01 % change on previous year (2025)
- Imports of goods and services (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.3356 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Imports of goods and services (current US$), per capita 186.65 current US$ per person (2025)
- Imports of goods and services (current LCU), annual growth rate 14.22 % change on previous year (2025)
- Imports of goods and services (current LCU), per unit of GDP 195.31 current LCU per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is military spending as a share of gdp in Central African Republic?
- Military spending as a share of gdp in Central African Republic was 1.7% in 2019, according to Barnum et al. - Global Military Spending Dataset (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest military spending as a share of gdp recorded in Central African Republic?
- The highest recorded value was 2.3% in 1998.
- What is the lowest military spending as a share of gdp recorded in Central African Republic?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.4% in 1960.
- How does Central African Republic rank for military spending as a share of gdp?
- Central African Republic ranks 65th out of 172 countries with data for 2019.
- Is military spending as a share of gdp rising or falling in Central African Republic?
- Over the last ten years it is up 20.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Central African Republic data come from?
- The figures come from Barnum et al. - Global Military Spending Dataset (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Military spending as a share of GDP. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 60 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Military spending measured as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP).